Detour: La Mission

Detour

Saturday, June 18th, 2016

NOTE: You can download the Detour app for iPhone or Android, for free, by clicking here. Detours are experiential: you can’t “do” them from home. This one starts at 24th and Mission Streets in San Francisco. More details here.

Listen to a preview of the Mission Detour:

Roberto Hernandez, the âMayor of The Mission,â takes you deep into the Mission with people who intimately love the neighborhood, but in very different ways. Roberto introduces you to all kinds of âlocalsâ: from tech-worker newcomers drawn to the neighborhoodâs buzz to Latinos who treasure the neighborhoodâs traditions. And as we travel, they all meet each other to ask: What does it mean to belong in a place in the midst of unprecedented change?

Along the way, youâll make an illegal left-hand turn with the coolest low-riders rolling 24th Street. Youâll visit a controversial new restaurant and eat hot hand-pressed tortillas at the neighborhoodâs staple Mexicatessen. Youâll see a million dollar condo and a house for sale for $9,000. Youâll hear the conga drums of Carnaval, decode neighborhood murals, and stop into a backyard patio full of tech workers writing code for start-ups they hope will be the next Uber or Airbnb.

By the end of this Detour, youâll understand why change agents and preservationists alike celebrate the Missionâs sense of place and want to belong there — and that a statement like “I belong” can mean two different things. As Roberto will tell you, âIf you’re saying it to yourself, it’s empowering. But if you’re saying it to someone else, it can mean: You don’t belong. And who gets to belong, that is a real emotional topic around here.â

Listen to Julia Scott and Detour founder Andrew Mason discuss the impetus for creating a Detour that focuses on the sensitive issue of gentrification on KQED’s Forum with Michael Krasny.